IT’S a brave man who takes on the job of immortalising Sir Alex Ferguson in bronze.

But having created statues of everyone from Mozart to the Queen, sculptor Philip Jackson was more than up to the task.

Today the statue will be unveiled at Manchester United’s Old Trafford, outside the stand that now bears their famous manager’s name.

And for Inverness-born artist Jackson, it’s the culmination of a year-long project, which involved him getting to know his legendary subject.

“You have to do all your research before you commit yourself to how you’re going to portray him,” he said.

“So I went to Manchester and spent time trying to get to know him. After all that research I came back to the studio and started making small-scale models of how I thought he should be.”

The time Philip spent with the boss left him with a different impression to that held by many football fans.

He said: “I liked him enormously as he’s not really the person you see on the television screens.

“I was trying to get into the sculpture his determination and his ability to concentrate, but I also wanted there to be just the faintest touch of humour at the corner of his mouth.”

A statue of Sir Alex Ferguson is lifted into position in front of his stand at Old Trafford

But finding the right way to portray those parts of Ferguson’s character was no easy task.

Philip explained: “There were one or two things he did, which I experimented with.

“There was one where he clapped his hands, but in a sculpture it looked a little bit like he was at prayer, and there was another one where he held his arms up high. Although that pose worked well as a gesture to the fans, in a sculpture it looked like he was surrendering, so that was out, too.

“Then I realised his great strength and why he’s been successful is that he’s a master tactician, so I’ve got him deep in contemplation just before he makes some pivotal move in a match.”

After he decided on the final pose, Philip showed a small-scale model to Sir Alex. Philip said: “He was delighted with it, so I brought it back to the studio and produced the full-sized sculpture, which is 9ft high, in clay.

“When that was completed he came down and I got a very good reaction when he walked into the studio. “But it was a nervous moment.”

It’s just the latest in a long line of high-profile commissions for the father-of-five, who is now based in West Sussex, which have seen him praised for his ability to capture the likeness of his subjects.

Other football commissions have included Sir Matt Busby and World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore. He’s also won praise for creating the Bomber Command memorial in London, while royal subjects have included George VI, the Queen and the Queen Mother.

Philip Jackson's sculpture of Sir Matt Busby

But the key moment always comes when the subjects themselves, or their families, see the sculpture for the first time, and two of his football sculptures have been accurate enough to move family members to tears.

“That’s the sort of reaction one really hopes to get,” he said. “I did the Matt Busby sculpture a year after he died and when it was unveiled, his son Sandy Busby cried his eyes out.

“The same thing happened with the Bobby Moore sculpture. His wife Stephanie came down and when she went into the studio, she stood in front of it and cried.”

But given the vast range of work Philip has undertaken in his long career, he’s hard-pressed to choose a favourite.

He said: “The ones that are nice are ones with an emotive subject, such as Bomber Command. I also found Sir Alex interesting because he’s a three-dimensional character.